The numbers that decide how much revenue Canada’s big two railways get to keep from Prairie grain handling have been marked downward for the 2020-21 crop year. The Canadian Transportation Agency last week announced it will set the volume-related composite price index (VRCPI) at 1.4202 for Canadian National Railway (CN) and at 1.4205 for Canadian […] Read more
Fuel, labour to pull grain freight cost indices lower
CP's share buybacks also a factor in its VRCPI
Nutrien cuts 2020 forecast as corn demand, potash prices hit
Reuters — Fertilizer maker Nutrien said Wednesday it has seen limited impact from the COVID-19 outbreak, but cut its annual forecast as oil downturn hit corn demand and potash prices are hard-pressed outside North America. Biofuel producers have been hit by plummeting demand for gasoline and jet fuel after severe global travel restrictions were imposed […] Read more
Trade estimates vary ahead of StatsCan’s acreage report
MarketsFarm — Opinions are wide-ranging on what Canadian farmers plan to plant in 2020, ahead of Statistics Canada’s first round of acreage estimates, due out Thursday. Prior to lockdown measures put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic, StatsCan was scheduled to release its first principal field crops area report for 2020 on April 24. […] Read more
Pulse weekly outlook: Lentil exports up on year
MarketsFarm — Canadian lentil exports are running well ahead of the year-ago level, according to the latest numbers. Canada exported 267,462 tonnes of lentils in March, the second-highest monthly total of the crop year to date and well above the 130,980 tonnes exported during the same month the previous year. The United Arab Emirates was […] Read more
Thunder Bay sees increased port traffic to start season
MarketsFarm — The Port of Thunder Bay reports “a surge in grain throughput” as the global COVID-19 pandemic has led to tight grain supplies in some countries and an increase in demand. Grain moved through Thunder Bay, on the northern shore of Lake Superior, is loaded onto “laker” vessels that transport to North American destinations […] Read more
Pulse weekly outlook: Chickpea acreage expected lower
MarketsFarm — High global prices in the 2017-18 marketing year caused a global spike in chickpea production in 2018. It’s since taken a while for consumers to “chew through supplies,” which has put pressure on prices, according to Chuck Penner of LeftField Commodities. In a kabuli chickpea global outlook webinar hosted by the Global Pulse […] Read more
Grains, oilseeds, pulses hold their own amid pandemic
MarketsFarm — Prices for grains, oilseeds and pulses are not as bad off as livestock values are due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Neil Townsend, chief market analyst for FarmLink Solutions in Winnipeg. FarmLink hosted a webinar Wednesday to provide its outlook for the coming crop year. One thing Townsend stressed was there is […] Read more
Demand may encourage more red lentil acres: AGT
MarketsFarm — Improving lentil prices over the past month may encourage more acres of the pulse crop in Western Canada this spring, according to an industry official, as seeding is set to start within the next few weeks. “With the recent March demand surge, mostly due to COVID-19, pulse prices have increased sending a signal […] Read more
COVID-19 threatens federal field research
Prairie cereals' commissions urge AAFC to follow example of universities, private researchers
COVID-19 threatens to sideline Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s (AAFC) field, greenhouse and laboratory research this year, but not if the Prairie wheat and barley commissions that help to fund it with farmer money have a say. AAFC has been sending “mixed messages” about its plans, Pam de Rocquigny, general manager of the Manitoba Wheat and […] Read more
Tighter canola stocks, more wheat in updated ag department tables
MarketsFarm — Updated supply/demand tables released by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada on Wednesday include only minor adjustments to stocks and usage numbers, with slightly tighter canola ending stocks and a small increase in wheat supplies. Canola ending stocks for 2020-21 are forecast at 2.7 million tonnes in the updated tables. That would be down from […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
